Garment-supporter clasp



(No Model.)

F. 1 HARDING. GARMENT SUPPORTER CLASP.

Patented Feb. 5, 1895.

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ntent @rmca FRED D. HARDING, OB BALDW'IN', MAINE.

GARMENT-SUPPORTER CLASP.

SPECIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 533,458, dated February5, 1895.

Application filed March 19, 18 94:-

To aZZ whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED D. HARDING, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Baldwin, in the county of Cumberland and State ofMaine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGarment-Supporter Clasps; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to improvements in garment supporter clasps, andmore particularly to improvements on the device shown in my two formerapplications filed respectively December 22, 1893, Serial No. 4%,374,and February 7, 1894, Serial No. 499,349. Its objects are to render itless liable to become accidentally detached from the garment and yetpermit the garment to be readily released when desired, and to lessenthe space between the jaws.

It consists in gradually depressing that portion of the base, over whichthe clamp swings, forward to the set-0E.

In the drawings herewith accompanying and making a part of thisapplication, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved device, andFig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same.

The same letters refer to like parts.

In said drawings a plate is shown folded back upon itself to form a basea, a top part b, and an opening 0 between them. The base has an upwardvertical set-0d d and a horizontal extension, in which is a slot f. Inthe top I) is mounted the clamp composed of a clamping jaw j and a leverarm 2' which is adapted to sink below the top 5 through a hole it madetherein. The strap or supporting brace may be attached to the clasp inany convenient manner. These features are substantially the same asdisclosed in my said former applications.

It was found that where the base was perfectly flat, the clamping jaw,in order to prevent it from being accidentally detached, must swingbeyond the center or beyond a perpendicular position before it broughtup against the set-0d, and that when thus carried beyond the center, itbecame raised from the base and tended to allow the garment to Serial No504,239. (No model.)

draw out. This resulted from the fact that the end of the clamp swingsin the arc of a circle, and thus only, when the jaw j is perpendicular,will the end of the jaw press on the base. Again when the locking jawswings past the center, it strikes only against the lower edge of theset-off and the sharp edge tends to injure the garment. As at presentconstructed where the locking jaw stops at the perpendicular, it bearssquarely against the face of the set-off.

To obviate the objections, I depress a portion of the base Zbelow theplane of the base, as seen in Fig. 1, suiiiciently wide to receive theend of the clamping jaw. The depressed portion maybe made in the form ofthe arc of a circle, if desired. By this arrangement the garment isdrawn down into the depressed portion and the jaw holds it firmly, notonly by pressing it against the face of the set-01f and down upon thebase, but also against the sides of the base formed by depressing theportion Z. Thus greater holding power is secured, and at the same timethe garment can be easily released by pressing it back, because the jawhas not been permitted to pass forward beyond the perpendicular.

Having thus described my invention and its use, I claim 1. In a garmentsupporter clasp, a plate folded back upon itself to form jaws, a clamppivotally mounted in the top jaw having a lever arm and a locking arm,an upward set off in the base, and a portion of the base back of saidset ofi depressed below the plane of the base, and having a slot betweenthe end of said depressed portion and the set up portion, said lockingarm being adapted to press the garment forward against said set ofi,downwardly upon the bottom of the depressed portion of the base andlaterally against the side walls of said depression, and means forattaching the supporter strap, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

2. In a garment supporter clasp, a plate folded back upon itself to formjaws, an upward set off in the lower jaw and a depression in the lowerjaw back of said set off, a slot formed between said upward set off andthe forward extremity of said depression, and a clamp pivotally mountedin the upper jaw having a lever arm and a locking arm, said locking armbeing adapted to swingin said de- In testimony whereof I affix mysignature pression and to hold the garment inserted in presence of twowitnesses. between said jaws by pressing it forward against the set 01f,downwardly upon the bot- FRED HARDING 5 tom of the depression, andlaterally against Witnesses:

the side walls of said depression, substan- ELGIN C. VERRILL,

tially as and for the purposes set forth. NATHAN CLIFFORD.

